Even with the mishap, I’d managed—together with Shijo, the black-haired ponytail, overly serious class rep—to get a huge amount of “ordinary lumber.”

After returning, I looked over the space where the Hut was currently placed.

We were using this area below the cliff, but so far there hadn’t been any inconveniences, so there was no reason to move.

The new home could be placed here too.

“Alright... what kind of house should we make...?”

“First of all, you need a bedroom, Kuno-kun.”

Shijo said it again, as if reaffirming it.

Sleeping together with three girls must have shocked her more than I’d realized.

“Well, the girls could use the new house, and I could just sleep in the Hut...”

When I said that, Shijo made a face like she’d “gone too far” and hurriedly denied it.

“N-no, that’s not what I meant. It’s not that I want to isolate you, Kuno-kun...”

As she stumbled over her words, I smiled to reassure her.

“Haha, I know. I just thought it was a valid option. Honestly, if everyone can stick together, that’s better for me too.”

“Every time we need you to take something out for us, calling you over feels bad. So maybe it’d be good to have a place to keep things we use regularly.”

While continuing her cooking prep, Shion offered her opinion.

“Yeah. Like if an intruder shows up—having to do the whole ‘I rush over, then pull out weapons’ routine is a hassle. I think it’d be smart to build an armory from the start.”

“Hehe. I was picturing more like a storage room or a walk-in closet, but that’s good too.”

Shion gave a wry smile.

Like if we ran out of soap, it’d be a pain to call me every single time.

For consumables, having a designated place might be a good idea.

“And if we think about the possibility of getting more allies later... maybe we should make it a little bigger...?”

Even that Hut in front of us had been designed with just me and Chiyu in mind at first.

We became a group of four the same day and managed to fit, but five would be rough.

Instead of rebuilding the house every time we gained someone, we could just make it big from the start.

“Kuno-kun, can you build a two-story structure as well?”

“Yeah, I think I can.”

“Then how about making everyone’s bedrooms on the second floor, and putting the living room and kitchen on the first?”

“So we make it like a normal house. In that case, we could add a door that connects to the bath area too, so we can go straight to the bath from inside.”

“Right. And if the bath area had a roof, we could bathe even when it rains.”

“True. Right now, the bath, the cooking area, the work area, and even our dining table—everything’s under open sky. And man... once you have materials to spare, you start wanting to do all sorts of things.”

“Of course, you’re the one generating it all, Kuno-kun, so prioritize what you want.”

“No, this might be something we should talk through once everyone’s here. For now, Shijo and I will just nail down the basics.”

At my words, Shijo smiled softly.

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

With Shijo’s help, we quickly got the basic layout locked in.

Once that was done, we went to help Shion.

“Then I’ll have you two cut the meat for grilled meat.”

Crafting was strict about what counted as “cooking,” so it would only cut meat as far as “butchering.”

It could separate rough cuts, but after that, I had to place it and cut it myself.

Shijo and I cut the loin.

“Hey, Shijo. You can use the chocolate vine peel like stuffed peppers, right?”

While working, Shion spoke to Shijo.

“Yes.”

“I tried biting a little, and it’s really bitter, but if I remove the harshness first, it should be fine, right?”

“Yeah. I think that’ll work.”

“Got it. Oh—Kuno-kun, can you lend me another knife?”

“Yeah, sure.”

I handed her a stone knife.

Shion minced meat, then used two stone knives like a dual-wielding butcher to chop it down further.

She chopped mushrooms finely too.

Then she put the meat and mushrooms into a bowl, added salt, mixed it, and stuffed it into chocolate vine peel.

“After the other two get back, we’ll just fry it in oil.”

“Nice. Fried food is a win, and I’m excited—this’ll have a different texture than just eating mushrooms and meat normally.”

“I’m happy to hear you say that.”

“...With grilled meat on top of that, I’m a little worried about calories.”

“Come on, come on. Let’s call today Shijo’s welcome party.”

“A welcome party... I-I see. Thank you for the hospitality.”

Shijo looked embarrassed.

“Calorie talk aside, there’s a lot we want—vegetables, rice, seasonings...”

“Yeah. It really hits you how blessed life in Japan was. I want sliced bread, eggs, and ketchup. And bacon...”

Bread meant wheat, eggs meant chickens, ketchup meant multiple ingredients—there was a lot required.

As for bacon, we had boar meat, so it felt like we could probably make it...

But I didn’t know the detailed steps beyond smoking it, so I’d have to ask someone.

“I want cocoa...”

If we had cacao beans, could we make it?

And if we could get cacao beans, then I’d want to make chocolate too...

Like that, the three of us spent a moment reminiscing about life in Japan.

“If that mystery blackboard shows up in our dreams again tonight, we might get another vote for adding something.”

“Yeah. And... it’s not even about what we can eat. The fact that we can talk about what we want to eat means we’re really fortunate.”

“I think so too. If nobody had helped me, I might’ve collapsed somewhere with a magic I couldn’t hit with.”

“Hehe. If you put it that way, my ability is even worse. I don’t know what would’ve happened if Shouko hadn’t picked me up.”

And then—both of them looked at me.

“Really, a lot of this is because of your ability, Kuno-kun.”

“Yeah. Sorry we rely on you so much, but if it ever bothers you, tell us properly.”

“I will. But for now, Crafting is fun, so it’s fine.”

We kept our hands moving and chatted—

“Taaaaaadaaa, we’re back!”

“The queen returns.”

The two of them came back with Mashiro.

“Welcome back, Shouko, Chiyu, and Mashiro. Can I start cooking dinner?”

“Coming home and having Shio-chan as my wife waiting for me—this life is nice!”

“Whose wife? If you mean So-kun’s, sorry, but I’m not yielding the title of first wife.”

“W-wife...? Iyama, you’re moving too fast!”

With five people, it instantly got lively.

“Alright, let’s eat.”

“Tonight is boar-meat grilled meat, stuffed chocolate vine peel, and mushroom-and-vegetable soup.”

“Amazing! Isn’t our diet improving way too fast for day two?”

“After dinner, we’re building a new house. Two stories.”

“Minorin, you cut down a lot of trees. Before, we were planning to have Mashiro help.”

Shouko said it like she was impressed, but Shijo made a pained face, probably remembering today’s mistake.

“And we haven’t forgotten about the Fenrir shed either, so we’ll think about it later.”

I said to Shouko.

“My bedroom is next to So-kun’s.”

“Then mine is next to him on the other side.”

“Huh!? Why are you doing first-come, first-served!?”

At Chiyu and Shion’s words, Shouko blurted out in a panicked voice.

“Y-you two...”

Shijo looked troubled.

“Hey, everyone. Later, let’s let Shijo join the meeting ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) too.”

“Yeah. For the healthy operation of the group, it can’t be helped.”

“M-minorin’s gonna get mad...”

Only Shouko flushed, like she was embarrassed.

That “secret meeting” between the girls again—just like yesterday.

And because of that, today, Shion and I had ended up doing that behind the bath area screen...

Shouko and Shijo too...?

Just thinking it made my temperature rise.

I shook my head—getting consumed by desire was no good—and generated a stone slab for grilled meat.